declined









declined


verb (used with object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

  1. to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse: He declined to say more about it.
  2. to express inability or reluctance to accept; refuse with courtesy: to decline an invitation; to decline an offer.
  3. to cause to slope or incline downward.
  4. Grammar.
    1. to inflect (a noun, pronoun, or adjective), as Latin puella, declined puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puella in the five cases of the singular.
    2. to recite or display all or some subset of the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun, or adjective in a fixed order.

verb (used without object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

  1. to express courteous refusal; refuse: We sent him an invitation but he declined.
  2. to bend or slant down; slope downward; descend: The hill declines to the lake.
  3. (of pathways, routes, objects, etc.) to follow a downward course or path: The sun declined in the skies.
  4. to draw toward the close, as the day.
  5. to fail in strength, vigor, character, value, etc.; deteriorate.
  6. to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away: to decline in popularity.
  7. to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.
  8. Grammar. to be characterized by declension.

noun

  1. a downward slope; declivity.
  2. a downward movement, as of prices or population; diminution: a decline in the stock market.
  3. a failing or gradual loss, as in strength, character, power, or value; deterioration: the decline of the Roman Empire.
  4. a gradual deterioration of the physical powers, as in later life or in disease: After his seventieth birthday he went into a decline.
  5. progress downward or toward the close, as of the sun or the day.
  6. the later years or last part: He became an editor in the decline of his life.

verb

  1. to refuse to do or accept (something), esp politely
  2. (intr) to grow smaller; diminishdemand has declined over the years
  3. to slope or cause to slope downwards
  4. (intr) to deteriorate gradually, as in quality, health, or character
  5. grammar to state or list the inflections of (a noun, adjective, or pronoun), or (of a noun, adjective, or pronoun) to be inflected for number, case, or genderCompare conjugate (def. 1)

noun

  1. gradual deterioration or loss
  2. a movement downwards or towards something smaller; diminution
  3. a downward slope; declivity
  4. archaic any slowly progressive disease, such as tuberculosis
n.

early 14c., “deterioration, degeneration,” from Old French declin (see decline (v.)).

v.

late 14c., “to turn aside, deviate,” from Old French decliner “to sink, decline, degenerate, turn aside,” from Latin declinare “to lower, avoid, deviate, to bend from, inflect,” from de- “from” (see de-) + clinare “to bend,” from PIE *klei-n-, suffixed form of *klei- “to lean” (see lean (v.)). Sense has been altered since c.1400 by interpretation of de- as “downward.” Meaning “not to consent, politely refuse,” is from 1630s. Related: Declined; declining.

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